into the groove, the cake is at once fashioned, according to the dimensions of the mould. The frame containing the farina may be almost immediately withdrawn after the mould is formed upon the pan, because from the consistency imparted to the incipient cake by the heat, it will speedily admit of being safely handled; it must not, however, be fried too hastily. It will then eat very palatably, and might from time to time be soaked for puddings, like tapioca, or be used like the casada-cake, for, when well buttered and toasted, it is excellent for breakfast.
1571.—POTATOES, IRISH WAY TO BOIL. (Fr.—Pommes de Terre à l'Irlandaise.)
Ingredients.—Potatoes, water.
Method.—Wash and scrub the potatoes, but do not peel them. Put them into a saucepan of boiling water, boil slowly until they can be easily pierced with a fork, then immediately add sufficient cold water to reduce the temperature several degrees below boiling point. Let them remain for 2 or 3 minutes, then pour off the water, cover the potatoes with a folded cloth, and allow them to stand by the side of the fire until the steam has evaporated. Peel them quickly, and send them to table in an open dish, in order that the steam may escape, otherwise the potatoes may be watery.
Time.—To boil the potatoes, from 20 to 30 minutes. Average Cost, 1d. per lb. Seasonable at any time.
1572.—POTATO RIBBONS, FRIED. (Fr.—Pommes de Terre Frites.)
Ingredients.—Potatoes, frying-fat.
Method.—Peel the potatoes, throw them into cold water for 10 minutes, dry with a clean cloth, and peel them into ribbons, ½ an inch wide, with a small sharp knife, cutting round and round. Divide these into 6-inch lengths, tie into knots, fry in a frying-basket in a deep pan of hot fat until golden-brown, then drain well on a paper, and serve.
Time.—From 5 to 6 minutes to fry. Average Cost, 1d. per lb. Seasonable at any time.
Preserving Potatoes.—In general, potatoes are stored or preserved in pits, cellars, pies or camps; but, whatever method is adopted, it is essential that the tubers are perfectly dry, otherwise they will surely rot; and a few rotten potatoes will contaminate a whole mass. The pie, as it is called, consists of a trench, lined and covered with straw, the potatoes in it being piled in the shape of a house roof, to the height of about three feet. The camps are shallow pits, filled and ridged up in a similar manner, covered up with the excavated mould of the pit. In Russia and Canada, the potato is preserved in boxes, in houses or cellars, heated, when necessary, by stoves to a temperature of one or two degrees above the freezing-point. To keep potatoes for a considerable time, the best way is to place them in thin layers on a platform suspended in an ice-cellar; there the temperature being always below that of active vegetation, they will not sprout; while, not being above one or two degrees below freezing point, the tubers will not be frost-bitten. Another method is to scoop out the eyes, with a very small scoop, and keep the roots buried in earth; a third method is to destroy the vital principle, by kiln-drying, steaming, or scalding; a fourth is to bury them so deep in dry soil, that no change of temperature will reach them, and thus, being without air, they will remain upwards of a year without vegetating.
